(WSVN) - A Florida father made a remarkable recovery in time for Father’s Day.
“You don’t have family, you don’t have anything,” Sean Schwinghammer said.
Schwinghammer, a colon cancer survivor, said his son was as instrumental in his recovery as his own medical treatment.
Schwinghammer said, “The whole journey ahas been a tough one. I’m actually a very faithful person. Number two is my family, my wife, my children, gave me a reason to live.”
He said his son, Broderick, was insistent that someone stepped in upon his diagnosis.
Schwinghammer said, “My eldest son was 21-years-old when I was diagnosed and had just graduated from the University of Florida. But right after I was diagnosed he said someone has to step in and help the family. He took about a year off to do everything that needed to be done.”
He took care of his younger siblings, with their everyday needs and dropped his sister off at college.
Schwinghammer said, “He took over so many different roles and tasks to let us focus on health, let me continue to work, and help our youngest not have to feel the effects of this.”
Broderick remembered the day he got the news.
Broderick Schwinghammer said, “It was interesting because I’d just gotten out of school, I’d been applying for jobs, and I remember the day when my dad and my mother came home and I knew something was wrong. He told me with tears in his eyes, and the world kind of just stops for a moment.”
Schwinghammer’s cancer went into remission after nine months, and he and his family took a trip to the mountains.
Broderick said, “I can’t really imagine what it would be like without my dad, being able to spend Father’s Day with him.
Schwinghammer said, “My son doesn’t owe me any Father’s Day gifts ever again, and it’s because he already gave me the greatest.”
Schwinghammer said he will need to be monitored for years to come as colon cancer returns frequently, but that he considers every Father’s Day in the future a blessing.
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